the new tiles are also sticky tiles - really nice though, they look like slate. I used them in the half bath and they look great. I'm not sure I have to get all the sticky off, its just difficult to get any particles that are stuck (like drywall dust etc) to the subfloor off, and I'm not sure how much leeway I will have, that's my concern. I didn't have that problem in the half bath because there was glued down carpet (!??) over the luan subfloor, which was fairly easy to scrape/sand off to a nice smooth clean surface. I'm probably over thinking it.